


Suit Up || Jonghyun short story

by MoMyMiddleName



Category: K-pop, SHINee
Genre: Complicated Relationships, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, High School, Love, M/M, Mistakes, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Physical Abuse, Youth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-25 15:56:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoMyMiddleName/pseuds/MoMyMiddleName
Summary: I wrote this a good while back. I had a generic idea that turned into a predictable plot and everything Jonghyun says is too fucking cheesy to handle but it still has something. I guess we all need some predictable cheesy rom com shit to calm ourselves after intense angst (even if this is kinda angsty too) or so much fluff that we start feeling like lonely idiots reading fanfic at 4 in the morning on a school night. To sum up: This is bad but read it anyways.





	1. Monday

"Some popular guy is transferring here today?" Eunji asks Taemin as they walk into school Monday morning, both looking around for their friends.

"That's what I heard Friday, but my source is a group of girls gossiping in front of school so, you know..." Taemin shrugs his shoulders and walks towards the three boys sitting on the basket field, chatting.

"Morning." Taemin smiles his maknae smile that they all adore. The older boys reply with a lazy 'morning' whilst getting themselves up and inside with the two youngest. Jinki drags his feet into the building, half asleep. He doesn't do mornings if he can avoid them.

"Good weekend?" Minho asks.

"Minho, we were all together for most of it," Eunji argues with an early morning smile spreading on her soft lips.

"Fair enough."

"Hey guys... Have you heard anything about a guy transferring here today? He's supposed to be popular or something," Eunji asks her friends curiously.

"Oh yeah," Jinki wakes up from his sleepy state. "He's supposed to be in my class. It's all the girls have been talking about. He must be really popular for everyone to know who he is... Well except for us, of course." Jinki raises his eyebrows and stops in front of the door to his classroom.

"Give us an update at lunch!" Eunji yells after him as he enters his classroom and the four of them continue further down the hallway. He sends them two thumbs up to reassure her that he will.

"I'm intrigued now," Minho shoots in. Kibum scoffs.

"It's just a person," he argues accompanied by an eye roll. "Let's go in." Kibum sassily walks into their classroom and Minho follows right behind him.

"See you at lunch," he yells after Taemin and Eunji. She swings an arm over Taemin's shoulder and they walk to their English class, letting out a yawn or two on the way.

"This is Jonghyun... The new guy," Jinki introduces to his four friends, who are stuffing food into their mouths on the school's football field. They all simultaneously lift their heads in curiosity. Now they know why all the girls have been whispering like never before. They keep chewing because they don't really know what to do.

The person they are all staring up at is Kim Jonghyun. All five of them know his name. All five of them know his music. All five of them remember that night they sat in Minho's room and listened to his album together. All five of them remember how they showered it with compliments. All five of them remember how they joked about Eunji having a crush on him. This is not the slightest bit strange, not at all.

Eunji can't help but keep staring and think to herself that the yellow t-shirt and the ripped jeans suit him so well. She has to keep herself from biting her lip as she always does out of habit at anything that turns her on and maybe, just maybe that is what is happening now.

_Woomin. Woomin. Woomin. Woomin. Woomin. Woomin._

"Hello. Park Eunji. 18. First-year." She stands up, bows and sits back down. She digs back into her lunch, trying her hardest to stay focused on the meal in her hands and not Jonghyun.

"Hello. Lee Taemin. 17, maknae. First-year," Taemin follows how Eunji did it. Kibum introduces himself far more casually, staying seated on the grass as he does this, so does Minho. Jinki sends an awkward smile to Jonghyun as they both settle down in the deform little circle of close friends.

"So, this is why the girls have been whispering each other's ears off," Eunji cheekily smiles at Jonghyun after having gathered herself.

"Did everyone know I was coming?" The question is so genuine that it takes them aback.

"Yeah pretty much," Eunji answers with a casual shrug.

"We didn't though," Minho adds. "Why did you decide to go back to school?" He stuffs his mouth with rice.

"I never finished school and I needed a break from my job. I want to be a normal kid for a while," he explains to the five people at school who don't stare at him creepily when they see him.

"You've come to the right place then. We won't treat you differently because you can sing and dance," Kibum answers, a little too harsh but his friends let him. They're used to it. He thanks the group of potential friends before pulling out his own lunch just as Jinki has done.

Throughout the lunch, they all get to know Jonghyun better and find him to be a nice guy, although it is easy to tell that he is not a regular student; at least not in the eyes of everyone else.

Jinki:  _Guys_

Jinki:  _All the girls are trying to get Jonghyun's attention! They keep sending him notes and winking at him._

Kibum:  _Wow disrespectful brats won't even let him have a normal life. They need to chill._

Taemin:  _Does he like it?_

Jinki:  _He looks annoyed but at the same time kind of smug..._

Eunji:  _Must be weird to know that if he wasn't famous he wouldn't get half the attention he's getting._

Taemin:  _It's sad._

Kibum:  _These girls are so obnoxious honestly._

Minho:  _Kibum the shade-thrower back at it again._

Kibum:  _I will actually slap you._

Eunji:  _Lmao_

Jinki:  _Chill boys..._

Taemin:  _Should we add Jonghyun to the chat??_

Jinki:  _One sec.._

_Lee Jinki added Kim Jonghyun to the chat_

Eunji:  _Welcome to spam-hell_

Jonghyun:  _Why, thank you._

Minho:  _How does it feel to be drowning in love notes?_

Jonghyun:  _A little tiring. I wish they would stop staring._

Jinki:  _Yeah, I'm getting a little uncomfortable too. The girls in front of us keep turning around. The teacher sees literally nothing._

Eunji:  _At least it's over in a few minutes._

Taemin:  _Are we going for bubble tea after school?_

Eunji:  _yES WE ARE!!_

Jinki:  _I can feel the craving spread in my body... Want to come, Jonghyun?_

Jonghyun:  _Sure!_

Minho:  _Yeah, we are coming too. Kibum's busy scolding one of the girls in your class for being a gold digger over text to reply to us. If you see someone furiously texting, it's probably her... >.<_

Jinki:  _It's Jiyoung. She looks pretty mad..._

Kibum:  _The girl deserves it. She's always been annoying and she called me pathetic... If I'm pathetic then wtf is she?_

Minho:  _Harsh..._

Jinki:  _Calm down Kibum. Meet you all by the basket court after class._

"Love is a broad concept... It's hard to define just like that. There are many kinds of love and each person loves differently," Eunji says after Taemin has unintentionally started up a discussion about the meaning of love with a question he now regrets asking.

"I agree with that. Love can also be both negative and positive. It can blind one from the truth. It's easy to overlook everything bad about the person you love and end up saying sorry for every mistake they make and you think you're happy... But you aren't really," Jonghyun adds with a nod.

"Exactly... It's weird what a feeling can do to peoples' perspectives on everything. A person can make another person push everyone else around them away. It can really make someone a completely different person. Especially the first love because they're so inexperienced that they let the feeling take control." Eunji looks at the clock as she finishes the sentence. "I have to go now." She picks up her bag.

"Woomin?" Minho raises his eyebrows. She nods awkwardly. "Not surprised." He leans back in his chair and shares a knowing look with Kibum, who takes a sassy sip of his bubble tea. As Eunji leaves the shop, Jonghyun faces the others with a confused expression.

"Boyfriend?"

"Mhmm," they all answer Jonghyun in unison.

"On the topic of being blinded by love..." Jinki rolls his eyes and gestures towards the door that just closed behind her.

"If you can even call that love," Kibum scoffs.

"Oh..." Jonghyun says as he realises what is going on. He hates that he feels a small sting of disappointment but he accepts it because love isn't something you can control, love controls you.

Eunji hurries to Woomin's place. She can't be late. She cannot be late. She stayed with the guys for a little too long and now she is denying that it is because of Jonghyun, even when she knows that, of course, it is. She rings the doorbell. The watch on her wrist tells her that she's right on time. She is buzzed in and she walks up the staircase of his building. Woomin waits for her, shirtless in the doorway.

"Hey babe," he smiles. Eunji kisses him because it feels good. It does. "You're all out of breath," he states as their lips part.

"I ran. I didn't want to be late," she explains and takes off her jacket.

"It's okay to be late." He chuckles and kisses her forehead. She lets the nerves calm down at these words, not completely because it's never completely safe, is it? You must be careful with jealous boyfriends. "How was your day?" His smile looks real but he's good at lying.

"It was fun. Kim Jonghyun started in Jinki's class so Jinki brought him to eat lunch with us cause the girls wouldn't leave him alone." Eunji grabs a glass from the cupboard and fills it with water.

"The singer?" For a short second, she stops breathing. Eunji is not very good at being careful. The tone is back. She drinks all the water as she thinks hard about what to say next.

"Mhm," is all she can muster to get out.

"So, you hang out with him now?"

"I think so. We're the only people who've been treating him normally so far." She shrugs like it is nothing, hoping he will believe her act when even she doesn't. She makes a very conscious decision not to mention that her stressed arrival was partly because she is an idiot who cannot take her eyes off handsome singers when she already has a boyfriend. A jealous boyfriend. A jealous boyfriend who can turn mean in the blink of an eye. She walks over to him and wraps her arms around his waist. The feeling of his skin is nice against her own.

"You look good today... It's annoying," he tells her and wraps his arms around her.

"Right back at ya," she winks. "Tell me about your day." She smiles up at him before resting her head on his chest.

"It was stressful. So many appointments I had to take care of and my assistant fucked up so I had two business partners arrive at the same time."

"Sounds hectic." Eunji fiddles with the hem of his jeans. She knows that a stressful day at work means sex. Rough sex. The kind that will make her question if she is crossing her own boundaries or not, but she shuts up. He needs it. She knows that he does, so she lets him fuck her.

Sometimes the way he holds her wrist hurts her a little too much or the marks he likes to leave will be a concerning colour the next day. Sometimes he will see them and look away. Never once does he comment on them and he knows Eunji covers them up when she goes to school. He knows it is shameful for her, but he needs it. She knows that, so she lets him mark her.

Today is exactly the same. Her fading marks are replaced with fresh ones. Again today, she let him do it without any protest. Again today, she leaves his flat, feeling a little less like her own and a little more like his.


	2. Tuesday

Taemin is already standing outside waiting as Eunji arrives at his building. They walk to school, talking about whatever. They meet the others at the entrance. Today, for the first time, that includes Jonghyun. He stands next to the others in a leather jacket and jeans so tight he is practically asking for all the attention.

_Woomin. Woomin. Woomin. Woomin. Woomin._

“Here comes the maknae line,” Minho points at the two with a smile. They wave and smile as they come nearer.

“How’s Woomin?” Kibum asks with an undertone of sarcasm that Eunji ignores.

“His job is a little stressful but other than that he’s doing fine,” she smiles and says a quick and uncomfortable goodbye before going into class with Taemin.

“What’s his job?” Jonghyun asks curiously.

“He’s the CEO of some huge company… It’s a family thing,” Jinki explains as they walk.

“He has too much money for his own good,” Kibum comments with the bitchy tone that is frequently used.

“For once I agree with you,” Minho tells his friend and throws an arm over his shoulder. “See you later.” They turn and walk into one of the science labs.

“He must be older seeing as he’s a CEO?” Jonghyun fishes for more information, whilst trying to hide the jealousy he’s feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“He’s 27.” Jinki raises his eyebrows out of habit as they walk upstairs to attend their art class.

Eunji and Taemin sit down on the huge football field for lunch as always. Jonghyun and Jinki are the last ones to show up. Eunji watches as they walk past a group of girls. Jonghyun sends a wink their way and they fangirl furiously. She wonders if he is enjoying all of the attention. Maybe he's even a bit of player. He definitely has the potential and the girls are all lined up and ready.

“Hey babes,” she says and lies down on her stomach, propped up on her elbows.

“Hey babe,” Jinki answers unfazed. He’s used to the nicknames.

“Hey baby,” Jonghyun winks in a joking manner. Little does he know that Eunji’s whole body begins overheating at his words. The look in his eye gives her the feeling that maybe he does actually know. She narrows her eyes at him and takes a bite of her lunch. For the millionth time today, she makes sure that the turtle neck is as high up as it can get and crosses her fingers that no one will think anything of it.

“Turtlenecks suit you,” Jonghyun stares as she fiddles suspiciously with it.

“Thanks. I wear them quite a lot actually,” she says as casually as she can with a small smile.

They all stand up when the break is about to end, except for Taemin and Eunji, who have a free period. Everyone else groans in jealousy as the two sit with huge smug smiles on their faces, enjoying the free time.

“Wanna sit and watch whoever’s got gym class now?” Eunji grins.

“Always,” Taemin grins back and they both move to the side of the field and sit down again. Soon enough people come back onto the field wearing their sports gear. They recognise some of them to be from Jinki and Jonghyun’s class, who come out just as they discover this fact. Jonghyun is wearing a pair loose gym shorts and a tight t-shirt. Eunji can’t help but stare. Next to her, Taemin has begun waving and calling their names. They spot the maknaes and jog over.

“Hi again,” Taemin cheerfully greets. Jinki smiles widely back. They sit down across from Taemin and Eunji, waiting for the teacher to call them over.

“Are you gonna sit here on your fat arses and watch us sweat to death?” Jonghyun asks.

“Basically.” Their teacher calls them all over. Jonghyun and Jinki send spiteful looks towards Eunji and Taemin as they get up and walk to sit in the circle of students that is forming.

“He looks really good in sportswear.” Taemin sounds as if he’s been thinking hard about this for a good while.

“He does, but I honestly think Jonghyun could wear a plastic bag and he would still look incredible,” Eunji shares with a sigh and for a moment completely forgetting that she has a boyfriend.

“I was actually talking about Jinki,” Taemin says as they observe them all get up and start to run in pairs around the field. “I never thought about him as a good-looking guy because he’s always been Jinki, but, I mean, he’s pretty fit.”

“I agree. He’s a very good looking guy.” She moves her gaze from Jonghyun to Taemin. He looks back at her and his smile turns from dazed to awkward.

“That was a little odd wasn’t it?”

“Well… no,” She grins at him. He giggles with her and they move their gazes back to Jinki and Jonghyun, who are running side by side. After finishing the warm up, they stand in pairs of two around the field learning techniques to a ball game that the two stalkers have no interest in.

“Maybe it’s just for this short moment, but I think I have a thing for Jinki,” Taemin shyly speaks up. Eunji’s trance ends and she shoots her head from Jonghyun to Taemin.

“You what?” she yells happily. “That makes me so happy. I don’t even know why.” She hugs Taemin tightly and he shyly hugs her back.

“Oh, you should probably look at Jonghyun now,” Taemin says, not forgetting that Eunji has a boyfriend, but knowing that Jonghyun will be a million times better for her and being very okay with helping her eye cheat. She looks up to see that the two of them have paused their practice because Jonghyun is taking off his shirt. Several of the girls in their class also stop playing to stare at him as he pulls it off and runs a hand through his hair. He holds a finger up to Jinki and jogs towards his two friends on the sideline. Eunji’s body grows stiff.

“Can I just put this here. I have a feeling one of the girls will steal it if I just leave it lying around,” she nods without a word and he hands it to Eunji before jogging back to Jinki. She holds it tightly in her hands. The girls look enviously at her and she sticks her tongue out at them and Taemin snickers, hitting Eunji's shoulder playfully.

“Let’s hope Jinki does the same with you then,” she jokes and hits her shoulder against his. He blushes slightly.

“Oh my god, you are all about him!” Eunji shakes his arm in excitement.

“Eunji be quiet or they’ll hear you,” he shushes her and puts a hand over her mouth. She calms down and nods to let him know that she will keep her voice down. He removes his hand and they continue giggling over Jinki and Jonghyun for the rest of class. Jonghyun comes over to collects his shirt at the end of their lesson.

“See you later,” he winks and turns his back. Eunji stares as he walks away and this is when she remembers her mature, busy boyfriend with piles of paperwork and a million things to think about. Here she is, looking at boys her age like she has nothing better to do.

_Woomin. Woomin. Woomin. Woomin._

“Let’s get to class.” She turns serious again. Taemin knows that she has been reminded of life outside of the football field. He frowns without her noticing and they walk back into the school building.

Woomin:  _Are you coming over after school?_

Eunji:  _Okay._

Woomin:  _Great! Come to the office and we’ll buy some coffee on the way home._

Eunji:  _Okay._

Woomin:  _Something wrong?_

Eunji:  _I’m fine. See you after school._

She puts her phone away and looks up at the teacher scribbling words on the blackboard. Their latest theme for Korean class is love. Nice and convenient.

“I want you all to write down things that you associate with love. Talk about it as you write them down in pairs of two.” Taemin and Eunji both know they’ll be working together as always, so they begin the assignment.

“Beautiful, nerve wracking… There’s also a lot of staring from afar and secret looks.” Taemin smiles down at his paper.

“Complicated, hard, scary, addictive, unpredictable and my last one is strange… Oh and sucky,” she ends and Taemin tries to remember everything she’s said as he writes it down.

“If these are your answer maybe you should consider if you’ve made the right choices in love… Just think about it,” Taemin says with a quick glance at Eunji. He continues to scribble some more words down on the piece of paper. She doesn’t answer because she has no idea what to say to that but she knows he has a point.

The elevator doors open to the floor of Woomin’s office. Eunji steps out of it, locking eyes with his secretary, Jiwon that she has developed a somewhat awkward relationship with. She gestures her head towards the end of the large room. Woomin is speaking to a woman with a lot of cleavage going on and seems to be thinking he can pop a few of the buttons on her shirt if he looks down there hard enough. Eunji ignores this and walks over to Jiwon, who is sending her looks. She’s so used to this, that her own guilt overshadows her jealousy today.

“How you just turn your cheek when you see him like that is beyond me," she tells Eunji as she keeps watching him very obviously flirting. Eunji has turned her back to it and leans up against Jiwon’s tall desk. Jiwon looks back and forth between Woomin flirting and Eunji’s face, that has a very unhappy expression on it, a couple of times before she yells after Woomin.

“Woomin, Eunji is here!” He turns his head to see her back. She has no desire to look at him at this point. She knows that when she does, she will completely forgive him for what he has just been interrupted doing and she wants to hate him for a little while longer. She hears his steps near her and she hears them stop right behind her. He wraps his arms around her waist.

“Hey babe.”

“Hey.” She turns around and locks eyes with him. Just as she expected all of her previous anger towards him seeps out of her worn body. Only the guilt is left and it’s stronger than before.


	3. Wednesday

“Anyone free after school?”

“I have to help my parents out at the shop,” Jinki says.

“We’re doing homework today. We have piles,” Minho frowns as he points to himself and Kibum. Kibum nods, looking tired.

“I have time,” Jonghyun beams at Eunji.

“I can’t come either. I promised my grandma to come visit today.” Taemin smiles a sorry smile and Eunji nods understandingly.

“I guess it’s just you and me then,” she winks awkwardly at Jonghyun, who chuckles, causing him to almost choke on his lunch.

Eunji walks to the gates where Jonghyun is waiting for her. She hugs him, happy that he wants to spend time with her even though everyone has things to do. It’s the first time the two actually touch and it stirs something in them both. Jonghyun knows exactly what it is and he sighs because it’s so nice but it kind of hurts too. Eunji knows exactly what it and sighs because she can’t admit that to herself and it kind of hurts.

_Woomin. Woomin. Woomin._

“What do you wanna do?” Jonghyun asks as they pull away from each other.

“I don’t know… Wanna just walk to the park?” He nods at this and they walk in the direction of the park. Jonghyun pulls his hood up in the hope of not being recognized.

“Getting stared at isn't always equally fun,” Jonghyun chuckles and Eunji huffs, nudging his shoulder.

“Wow, having a famous friend is so exciting,” she says, obviously sarcastic.

“I bet you’re actually fangirling on the inside right now,” he teases with a smirk she kind of wants to punch off but his face is too pretty to ruin.

“Am not. Just because you get all the other girls at the school, doesn’t mean you get me too.” She crosses her arms and acts offended.

“My charm works on every girl… Including you,” he winks and Eunji scoffs.

“So Jonghyun,” Eunji begins as they turn right into the park. “Now that we’re on this topic, I’ve been curious what you say to girls to get them in bed with you,” she has a curious look in her eye that  _almost_  could be interpreted as lust. His smirk returns. There is a flirty atmosphere that only Jonghyun will admit to.

“Well, they usually come to me first and then I start off easy,” He begins before clearing his throat. “So, you’re a fan. Any favourite song?... Now you answer.” She thinks for a moment.

“Well ‘Moon’ and ‘Orbit’ are sexy as fuck, so I’ll go with those two,” she decided and looks him in the eyes, anticipating his next line. He places his arm over her shoulder and places his lips close to her ear.

“In that case, how about I take you high enough to orbit the moon tonight?” On one hand this is making Eunji cringe so much but on the other hand, it’s kind of working, which annoys her to no end. She laughs as she cringes, hiding that some part of her kind of liked the whispering even if the words were cheesy.

“And girls fall for that? That’s so easy,” she scoffs with a smug look on her face. He points his tongue out at her.

“You loved it,” he teases as they sit down on a bench. “I saw you gulp.”

“Must have been a trick of the light.” Anyone could tell that what she just said was a complete and utter lie and a bad one at that. He scoffs back at her and gives her the ‘you really think I’m that stupid’ look.

“I have a question,” he moves on.

“Shoot.”

“Is that foreign girl Mona any good in bed?” He asks with a cheeky smile. Eunji feels the jealousy bubble up in her as she raises an eyebrow at him to signal that she is probably the last person to know the answer to that question.

“How in the world would I know?”

“Who knows? You might have hit that at some point. I’m not one to judge.” He is so amused with teasing her that she considers slapping his smug smile off his face for the second time that day.

“Damn you’re annoying.” She narrows her eyes at him and pretends to be fine when in reality her mind is running at full speed, going completely crazy with jealousy, guilt and desire. If she would be honest with herself at that very moment she would have told herself to get rid of Woomin, tell Jonghyun that Mona and every other girl could go to hell and kiss him with so much passion he would start going crazy over her instead of the other way around; but instead, she convinces herself that she loves Woomin and that these feelings just come from being star struck.

_She's never been a bigger liar._


	4. Thursday

Eunji wakes up the next day, feeling awfully tired. She gets ready in a zombielike state and walks to Taemin’s flat and rings the doorbell.

“I’ll be right down,” she hears and in less than a minute Taemin is standing in front of her, ready to go.

“Have I ever told you that your hugs are amazing?” She asks him tiredly. He chuckles and shakes his head no. “Well, they are.” She sends him a sleepy smile that he cheerfully returns.

“Did you stay up too late?” He asks me, still his cheerful self.

“How are you so happy in the morning? I love it cause it’s so refreshing… But how?... Oh, and yes I did.” She can’t help but smile when their cute little maknae does. He chuckles cutely and shrugs his shoulders. She wonders why the girls aren’t going all crazy over the actual little ray of sunshine next to her.

They are about the cross the road to school when they are pulled back by the necks of their shirts. They turn around to find Kibum, Minho and Jinki, looking like they’ve just met death himself and Eunji is about to find out that they kind of had… Her death at least.

“Woomin’s about to get real mad.” Kibum raises his eyebrows and points at Eunji. Her heartbeat fastens at these words, fearing what comes next.

“What? Why?” she asks confused and panicked.

“I can’t even say it. Look for yourself.” He shows her his phone that has an article open. The first thing she notices is the huge picture of herself and Jonghyun walking next to each other. A spark of fear ignites in the pit of her stomach. The next picture ignites the fire. It’s a picture of Jonghyun with his arm around her, whispering in her ear with a very flirty look on his face. The girl in the pictures is undoubtedly Eunji so there is no way she can lie her way out of this.

“What are you all standing here for?” Asks Jonghyun from behind them. Everyone blankly stares at him before Kibum turns the phone towards him. “Well shit.” He scratches his neck with an apologising look on his face. He furrows his eyebrows in worry as he looks over at Eunji who looks scared to death.

“Woomin is going to actually kill me.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did,” Kibum mutters. Minho hits his arm and gives him a stern look before embracing Eunji in a comforting hug.

“Remember that we’re always here for you no matter what,” he says, only loud enough for the little group of friends to hear it. She gathers herself and they walk into school. As they walk to class they get an unbearable number of stares from the girls in the hallways. Eunji keeps her head down to avoid them all. She shuts off her phone so that, maybe, she will be able to concentrate on the classes instead of the possible spam of phone calls she is going to receive as soon as Woomin sees the articles.

She walks to lunch with a lump in my throat that has been there all morning. Taemin puts a hand on her shoulder in comfort as they sit down as the first ones on the otherwise empty football field. She rests her head on his shoulder and Taemin gently rocks them back and forth. They sit like this until the others arrived.

“How are you holding up?” Jonghyun asks, his eyes full of regret and sorry.

“I’m not sure.”

“Have you spoken to him?” Jinki asks, concerned.

“No. I turned off my phone so I don’t have to deal with it until after school.”

“Good idea. You can’t do much about it right now anyway.” She nods in agreement as she opens up her lunchbox. Minho and Kibum arrive not long after.

“What are you gonna say to him? He’s probably not gonna listen,” Kibum tells Eunji. His caring voice is a rare phenomenon but a day like this is worth that sacrifice.

“I don’t know. I’ll just try and explain.”

“You know what?” Taemin speaks up suddenly. “You shouldn’t take his shit. He can’t just start shouting at you without hearing your explanation. If he won’t let you talk, you just say that you won’t let him yell before you’ve explained what happened. Don’t let him control you.”

“You’re such a sweetie Taemin. Thanks,” she smiles, hugging Taemin.

“Oh no.” Minho’s voice is quiet yet filled with fear. Eunji turns her head to see what he and Kibum are staring at. Her body begins to shake and she breaks into a cold sweat that gets worse and worse as Woomin nears them with quick, angry steps. She wants to stand up but she’s not sure if her feet will be able to hold her up. He stops in front of her before he spots Jonghyun.

“You,” he growls and clenches his fists.

“Don't you fucking dare,” Eunji speaks up, getting a wave of courage amid the panic. He looks down at her and pulls her up. Just as predicted her legs won’t keep her up so she falls right back down in the grass. She slowly pulls her upper body up with her arms. Jonghyun and Jinki, who are seated the closest to Eunji, hurry over to help her up.

“That’s pretty fucking brave of you,” Woomin says, once again focused on Jonghyun.

“Your girlfriend fell to the ground. I helped her because I’m a good friend. Don’t start feeling offended when all I did was be nice when you weren’t.” Jonghyun stands up and looks Woomin right in the eyes. Jonghyun surprisingly succeeds in being intimidating even when he is noticeably shorter and skinnier.

Eunji looks at Woomin’s face and she knows what is going to happen next. She dreaded this, but before she can react it has already happened. Jonghyun takes a few steps backwards from the hit and soon enough his nose begins to bleed. Eunji takes a deep and shaky breath before getting up.

“Listen Woomin. You need to leave. I’ll come by after school, but this really isn’t the time or place to discuss this. If you don’t leave I’m gonna speak to the teachers and get you reported for trespassing and hitting a student, so I advise you to just leave. See you later.” She grabs Jonghyun’s arm and hurries into the locker rooms with him. Luckily, they are the only ones in there so they fix this without a big fuzz being made. They both know that if anyone finds out it will be all over the school in no time.

“Fuck that was a good punch,” Jonghyun groans in pain as he sits on the lid of the toilet with paper to his nose while Eunji is working hard to get rid of the stains on his shirt.

“I’m so, so, so sorry,” she apologises for the 100th time.

“It’s okay Eunji. It wasn’t you who hit me.”

“But it’s because of me that he hit you,” she reasons and wets some more paper to rub off the dried blood around his nose. “There you go. Thank god that pretty nose of yours survived. It’s the core to your charm,” Eunji jokes and throws out the bloody piece of tissue.

“You do think I’m charming then?” Even sitting in this situation after what had just happened he still finds it amusing to tease Eunji, which they are both happy about because it really lightens the mood.

“Oh, shut up.” She looks at her wristwatch. “Since we’re already late for class let’s just not go.” She unlocks the toilet door.

“Sure. What do you wanna do?”

“I’ll show you the roof.” Eunji gestures for Jonghyun to follow her and they sneak up to the roof without being seen by anyone. There is not much up there other than a few benches and plant boxes with dead flowers in them.

“Does anyone go up here?”

“Not really… That’s why I like it.” She sits down on the ground and watches as Jonghyun does the same.

“Why did you start dating that guy? From where I’m standing he seems pretty douchy,” Jonghyun asks with furrowed eyebrows. He seems genuinely confused.

“My friend does the cleaning at his company and they needed someone to substitute for her for a week. I told her I’d do it. Every time we walked past each other he would always send me this flirty smile. On my last day, he asked for me to come to his office when I had finished work. He told me he was buying me dinner for the effort I had done and that’s how it began.”

“How long has it been going on?”

“Six months this Sunday.”

“Kibum seems to be very negative about him.”

“He thinks Woomin isn’t right for me,” she explains as if it is nonsense.

“I don’t either. He doesn’t know how to treat you right. Look how pissed he was today. He fucking punched me.” Jonghyun points to his nose.

“Wouldn’t you be mad if you saw pictures of your girlfriend with another guy whispering into her ear the way you did.” She raises her eyebrows.

“Sure I’d be mad, but I’d at least listen to you before I’d start pulling you around and punching the guy.” Jonghyun’s frustration becomes clear to Eunji now. She feels an odd sense of defeat.

“You might have a point.”

“You should be with someone who treats you like an equal and not like a puppet they can control however they want. Someone who will listen to you. Someone who will hold you when you’re sad. Someone who will look at you that way Jinki looks at Taemin when he thinks no one is looking. Someone who will be deeply madly in love with you. Someone like me!” He almost yells the last bit, which is half the reason Eunji is startled. The other half being that he basically just told her he loves her. It’s dead silent.

“Jonghyun…” She stands up as Jonghyun has done.

“Good luck with your boyfriend.” He leaves the rooftop. Eunji lets him leave.

_Woomin. Woomin._


	5. Friday

"Did you sort it all out with Woomin yesterday?" Taemin asks, ignoring the fact that Eunji looks exhausted and that he can see the fresh, violent-looking hickeys peeking out the edge of her turtleneck.

"I convinced him, but I had to stay up all night. I'm so tired and I feel kind of ill."

"Maybe you should stay home for today and get some rest... Are you coming with us tonight or would that be stupid?"

"It's definitely stupid but I kind of don't give a shit about that right now. I'll come," she says in a monotone voice. Taemin smiles sadly at my sorry state.

"You should go and sleep now. I'll tell the teachers you're sick and send you the notes from the classes." She thinks about if anything good can come from going to school. There is not one good reason for her to go to school today. Even seeing Jonghyun doesn't count as a good thing today. They haven't spoken since the incident on the roof and seeing as Eunji's love life is going kind of crazy she isn't sure how she's gonna tackle him.

"You're right. See you tonight then." She gives Taemin a quick hug. He kisses her forehead innocently and caringly before he lets her turn to walk back home.

Her father hasn't left for work when she comes back home. She explains to him that she felt sick on her way to school and that it's best for her not to go to school today. He nods understandingly, makes her tea, kisses her forehead and leaves their home. She sits on her bed, taking small sips of my tea, trying not to think too much about Woomin's rage or Jonghyun's sort of confession. She soon throws her head down on her pillow and drifts off to sleep.

"Eunji, wake up." She hears the unmistakable softness of Jinki gently speaking. He is caressing her arm in an attempt of waking her up as comfortably as possible. Her eyes flutter open and she looks up to see Jinki, Kibum, Minho and Taemin all standing around her. She spots Jonghyun standing in the doorway looking over at her. He has a serious expression on his face and doesn't look like someone who is ready to go out.

"What time is it?" Eunji asks as she sits up on her bed, rubbing her eyes.

"It's five... We thought we'd come get you and then go to Jonghyun's place and order pizza, then we'll go out." Jinki smiles softly. She nods and slowly gets up from her bed to find something to change into. Fashionista Kibum immediately steps forward.

"I'll help... But I think we need a little more than a regular turtleneck to cover those." He makes a disgusted face as he eyes her neck that is red with marks. She pulls her hand up to hide the marks. Kibum rolls his eyes, removes her hand and sits me down on the bed. He pulls out makeup from his bag and begins applying everything that can help cover them up. Jonghyun keeps his eyes on her throughout, without saying a word. It takes Kibum about 15 minutes to get it all covered.

Eunji gets back up to go through her closet. Kibum once again steps in. As he does his thing, Eunji scans the other boys' outfits to see if they are going for casual or classy. It seems the answer is casual. Even so, Jonghyun still looks like he has spent more money on his clothes than Kibum has and that says a lot. She looks up his body until she reaches his eyes. His expression turns smug because he caught her checking him out. She changes her focus to Kibum.

"This will do." He hands her a yellow, short sleeved button down shirt with a nice pattern on it. It's very 90's. He finds her tightest pair of black jeans and hands them over. Kibum shoos everyone out of the room and shuts the door after them. Eunji stares at him for a couple of seconds. He stares back until she shrugs her shoulders and pulls off her nightshirt that she changed into before getting into bed. Kibum looks down at his phone uninterested. Eunji throws on the shirt and buttons all but the top button. With some struggle, she manages to pull on the skinny jeans.

"Any comments, Mr fashion police?" she asks. He looks up.

"You look very pretty." He smiles and gets up from her bed to let the others back in. Everyone mumbles quick compliments as they all push through the door at the same time, which causes them to get stuck in the doorway. Eunji shakes her head, feeling less and less burdened by Woomin.

"Let's get going then?" she asks grabbing her stuff. Minho cheers and hurries back out the door. "Byeee! See you tomorrow." Eunji waves at her parents in the living room as she and her friends jog past them one by one.

"Have fun," they hear before they shut the door behind them and walk to Jonghyun's flat, which by the way is huge. We enter the tallest building and the fanciest lobby any of them have ever been in. They all gather in the elevator and Jonghyun presses the button for the 19th floor.

"The view must be amazing," Eunji blurts out as she watches his finger press the button. He nods confidently and sends her a subtle wink. She looks down at her fingers, playing with her rings to avoid his gaze.

"In here." Jonghyun points to the door as they approach it. He opens it and his five new friends all run in to see how their famous friend lives. They are blown away by the enormous rooms and windows not to mention TV. When they finish looking around they all gather around the coffee table by the sofa. Jonghyun places unspeakable amounts of alcohol in front of them and six glasses.

"Are we playing a drinking game?" Eunji asks, getting her body ready for the poison she is about to pour into it.

"Let's play that body part game where one of us is blindfolded and has to hold their hand on the body part of someone else. If they can guess what they're touching, they don't have to drink, but everyone else has to. If they lose they'll have to drink... Three shots?" Minho suggests with a cheeky grin. Everyone hesitantly agrees, unsure of what they are getting themselves into.

First up is Taemin. He is blindfolded with a scarf. Eunji and Jonghyun pull at Jinki because they both know the two of them have an obvious thing for each other. They are pretty sure that Minho and Kibum know too because they seem to think the idea is perfect. They spend about 30 seconds having a muted argument over which body part we should pick and are all furiously pointing while Jinki grows more and more confused.

"Guys?" Taemin asks, getting impatient. They hurry and pick his neck. Jinki stretches it so Taemin won't hit his chin and guess it from that. Eunji takes a hold of Taemin's wrist, who jumps from the sudden touch.

"Here you go," she says as she lets his index and middle finger touch Jinki's neck.

"Omo!" Taemin says in surprise. He begins to feel around on Jinki's neck until he has a guess. "The front of the neck." He points out the spot on himself and the rest of them cheer until they realise that they are the ones who lost. Taemin pulls off the blindfold to see who he has touched. A faint blush appears on his face that everyone notices. They pour the drinks and take a few big gulps before continuing the game.

By the time it is Eunji's turn the six of them have had a lot to drink. Eunji puts the blindfold on and listens to the drunken whispers in front of her.

"Jonghyun's thigh," she hears Taemin whisper.

"But then I have to take off my jeans," he whispers back.

"His nipple," Minho snickers. Taemin and Jinki giggle.

"Guys let's make her touch his butt," Kibum shoots in. Eunji sits quietly like she can't hear what they're saying. No matter the body part they seem determined for it to be Jonghyun's.

"I think maybe nipple would be better," Jonghyun giggles, which almost cracks Eunji's indifferent face. A small, amused smile reveals itself but she hurriedly hides it. The rest of discussion is too muffled for Eunji to make out. Soon her hand is placed on soft skin. Her fingers feel around it for no longer than a couple of seconds.

"Abs," she shouts with a grin and removes the blindfold to see Jonghyun in front of her with his shirt pulled up. He winks down at her and she sticks her tongue out at him. He lets go of his shirt, making Eunji frown jokingly up at him.

"I saw that," he chuckles.

"Music!" Kibum exclaims and looks at Jonghyun. He hurries to his speakers and sets up his phone. Jinki pulls Taemin out to dance, holding him close as they swing around the living room. They trip as they dance around the living room but they don't mind, having the time of their lives. Minho and Kibum join in.

"Jonghyun?" Eunji pokes his shoulder.

"Mhm?" He turns around to look at her.

"Put something sexy on next," she smiles like a kid who's just done something they weren't supposed to. He nods and goes over to his phone. He changes the song. "Orbit" starts playing and Eunji speeds to the biggest empty space in the room. Jonghyun skips over.

"I remember what you said at the park," he pouts innocently. She imitates him, making them both burst out laughing before she hooks her arms around his neck and the atmosphere seems to change drastically. They forget everything around them in their slurred state as they dance closely with their foreheads pressed together. The others notice and start to whisper as Jonghyun glances down at Eunji's lips. Eunji leans in closer.

_Woomin Wo-_

Their lips gently touch, feeling the softness of the contact before it becomes a kiss. A kiss that deepens and heats them both up to a temperature they are unable to level with.

When the two pull away from each other they spot the sofa that is occupied by four boys all smiling drunkenly their way.

"Seven minutes in heaven!" Minho shouts, pointing to Jonghyun's bedroom door.

Eunji wakes up to the smell of Jonghyun's cologne entering her nostrils and a short moment of happiness occurs before the hangover overshadows this. She frowns to herself, eyes still closed. She snuggles closer to Jonghyun and tries to enjoy his smell and the softness of the mattress she is lying on. The feeling of Jonghyun's forehead on hers and his arms wrapped around her makes her feel so calm until... Her eyes shoot open. She sits up scanning Jonghyun's bedroom. She knows they didn't have sex because even in a drunk state she is too scarred for that, though she remembers a lot of hefty snogging and then she looks down at Jonghyun who moans in displeasure from Eunji's sudden movement. He looks up at her and then buries his face in his pillow. As cute as it is to Eunji, her mind is full of scary thoughts of angry Woomin.

_You kissed Jonghyun. You kissed him... More than once and you spent the night in his bed WITH HIM. Woomin will be so mad- or maybe you just won't tell him... Are the others still here? How much do they know? You're done for, Eunji._

She leaves the bedroom to find the others lying in sofas and on mattresses on the floor. She stops in her tracks once again realising what she has done. She crumbles down to the floor where she hugs her legs, rocking back and forth.

"Eunji," Jonghyun breathes out, sounding worried. She feels his hand gently caressing her back as he sits down next to her with crossed legs, looking at her with eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"What have I done?" She leans her head on his shoulder. He consoles her in silence for some time. "I think I need to leave," she announces in a shaky voice.

"Eunji, wait." Jonghyun grabs Eunji's arm as she reaches for the door. She looks up at him with glossy eyes. "Leave him. He treats you like his possession. You're one of the best people I know, but when you remember your boyfriend it's like you become someone else. That's not how it's supposed to work. I hate seeing you like this. Please leave him." She avoids his gaze as he searches for hers.

"I really need to leave Jonghyun."

And she does.

"This isn't just hurting you. All of us are suffering because of him too." Tears fall as Eunji rushes out of the door. He stands in the doorway looking at Eunji as she walks to the elevator. "I love you Eunji." She stops moving for a second as the words colour her mind with the darkest shades of happiness. Happiness that burns. She's never heard of that before. She walks to the elevator and then into it. She never looks back because everything is weak right now. She forces her tears to keep away from her rosy cheeks as she walks to Woomin, praying that it won't be visible on her face when she reaches his flat. There is a pretty cold wind that she can blame for the rosy cheeks and teary eyes if he does notice. She is let into the building.

"Have you been crying?" Are the first words he says to her that day. A lie is the first thing she tells him that day. She walks past him into his spacious flat. She takes off her coat and sits down at the dining table.

"I'm glad we figured it out together." He smiles and sits down in the chair next to her. She nods and she smiles coldly. "Just to make it clear, we agree that you won't be seeing Jonghyun anymore except in the hallways at school ev-"

"Even if it means I can't hang out with my friends every day." She finishes his sentence. her stomach turns when the tears threaten to fall again. She hurries to his bathroom. She locks the door and makes it to the toilet just before her stomach forces everything out of her that was poured in the day before. Woomin knocks on the door and asks if she's okay. She flushes the toilet and washes her mouth. She looks at the girl in the mirror. She's pale and her eyes don't have that spark that they used to. The girl in the mirror resents herself. She comes back out of the toilet.

"I'm not feeling so good today... Maybe I should just go home, shower and sleep."

"Why go home when you can do all of these things here?" He asks with a cheeky smile like she hasn't just thrown up into his fancy toilet. Her face doesn't change as she silently looks up at him. She sighs.

"I don't think I'm gonna be that fun to be around and I honestly just want to be alone right now. I shouldn't have come over. Sorry." Her feelings need a break and she can only do that away from Jonghyun and Woomin.

"Don't leave." He stands in the way of her. She looks into his eyes again even if it hurts to do so. She steps to the side to walk around him, but once again he blocks her way.

"Woomin move." She tries another time to go around him.

"You just wanna leave so you can see him right?" The anger has ignited inside of him.

_The beast has awoken._

He grabs her arm and pulls her into his bedroom. She tells him to let go but he doesn't respond. With a heart beating fast, tears flowing like a river, struggling to get away she gets stripped of her identity. She becomes no one in that bedroom. Today it isn't okay just because he needs it. Today it just feels wrong because yesterday has changed her. Even she can see through her happy façade today. She can see through her own smiles that now look like cries for help that no one but Jonghyun has heard as they are meant to be heard. She is left in the cold bedroom used, spent and messed up. His pillow is wet with tears and she's shivering uncontrollably. She tries to get up, but her body won't let her. The time it takes for her to get up is unknown to her. All she knows is that he has left the flat by the smack coming from the front door and that she needs to get out of before he comes back, and she does. She gets up slowly and pulls on her clothes. She grabs her coat and throws on her shoes and leaves with the laces untied. She walks and then she runs.

_Anywhere but there._


	6. Monday

“Eunji are you alright? We haven’t heard from you all weekend.” Taemin comes out of his front door, rushing to her. She nods into his shoulder.

“I’m okay.” Taemin can tell it’s a lie because even Eunji has stopped believing it.

“Jonghyun has been acting weird all weekend. When we woke up and you weren’t there he was really down. He told us that he tried to convince you to end it with Woomin. Then yesterday Jinki told us that he and Jonghyun had gone out Saturday. Jonghyun apparently got wasted and hit on every woman he could find. He seemed to be pretty miserable and beside himself.” Taemin spills anxiously. It seems like he has wanted badly for Eunji to know this. Jealousy fills her at the thought of Jonghyun with another girl. She knows she has no right to that feeling anymore.

“I can’t see Jonghyun anymore.” Taemin furrows his eyebrows in confusion. “Woomin won’t let me. Even if it means I can’t be with you guys when you’re with him.”

“That complicates things.”

Over the weekend the weather got a lot colder, so they had moved inside for their lunch break, well except for Eunji and Taemin, who settle up on the roof. Being the loyal friend he is, he stays with Eunji while the others eat with Jonghyun. She tells Taemin that she will figure something out soon because this is ridiculous and no one in their group want to split. They sit down, ignoring the cool wind the best they can. As the two begin to shiver, Eunji feels bad and they decide to go back inside and down to the classroom where their friends are sitting. Eunji peaks her head in hesitantly. At this point, no one has seen her and it seems they are talking about her, so the two listen in for a bit.

“I think she knows. I just think it’s hard for her to let go. Something is keeping her with him.” Jonghyun sounds sad as he talks about her. The memories of Friday are haunting him endlessly.

“She needs something to realise she should let him go,” Minho says and Kibum hums agreeingly.

“I think that something is Jonghyun,” Jinki says. A deafening silence falls over the classroom. Eunji looks back at Taemin who raises his eyebrows.

“Snooping are we?” A girl asks from behind them. Eunji has seen her around the school, but has not once spoken to her. She is the kind of person their group of friends would avoid the best they could. The girl walks past them and into the classroom. The others are already looking up. They heard her speak. Taemin and Eunji stand awkwardly in the doorway.

“Hi,” Eunji waves awkwardly. “We decided to come back down because it was too cold and I missed you guys,” she speaks honestly, looking at them apologetically and practically hugging herself from the embarrassment of having eavesdropped on her friends. Taemin grabs her arm and they walk in together, sitting down around the table with the others.

“Babe… Wanna eat me instead… Oh I mean eat with me?” She asks Jonghyun and walks dangerously close to him. Eunji looks down, not feeling like watching that.

“Later maybe. Two of my friends just arrived I wanna spend some time with them.” Eunji looks up in surprise and finds Jonghyun winking at her before sending her off. Taemin grabs her arm to comfort her. He knows Eunji has strong feelings for Jonghyun even if she doesn’t dare to admit them.

“How much did you hear?” Jinki directs the question towards Eunji.

“Just from the part about it being hard for me to let him go.” She’s been avoiding that name ever since Saturday morning. No one knows yet and she’s afraid to tell them. Afraid, but most of all ashamed. She feels a tear rolling down her cheek. She wipes it away and sniffs.

“You’re crying.” Minho states in shock. Everyone moves forward in their seats. Taemin reacts instantly by pulling her into a hug. Jinki comes over to rub her back. Jonghyun looks at her, not quite knowing what to do while Kibum and Minho try asking her if it is because of what they said.

“No… It’s not that… Just something that happened. I don’t really wanna talk about it,” she says in between small sobs. The room becomes dead silent. Everyone knows it has something to do with Woomin. They all fear the truth.

“Eunji,” Kibum begins, sounding worried yet firm. “What did he do to you?” Everyone stares at her, waiting for her to say the words they don’t want to hear.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You are not fine for shit. Now tell us what the bastard did to you.” Kibum loses his shit and Minho grabs his shoulder to calm him down. Even more tears start streaming down her cheeks.

“I went to his place Saturday morning…” She starts off the story, putting off telling them what he did to her. “We sat talking until I felt the hangover forcing me out to the bathroom. I told him I wanted to go home and recover by myself. He insisted I’d stay. He stood in front of me so I couldn’t leave. He kept standing in the way so I told him firmly to move, but he wouldn’t. He lost his temper and… Forced me into his bedroom…” She leaves the sentence unfinished because her loud sobs interrupt her.

“He didn’t…” Minho, much as everyone else, look at Eunji in shock as they process this new information. Everyone sit paralysed around the table. The only sound in the room is Eunji’s crying. Jonghyun, who hasn’t spoken at all since his bimbo left, now speaks up.

“I’m gonna kill that guy. I’m gonna actually fucking kill him.” Jonghyun stands up from the table. “Where does he work?” Jonghyun asks.

“No Jonghyun.” Kibum and Minho take a hold of him and sits him back down.

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Jonghyun says angrily. “He hurt her!” The anger in his eyes scares Eunji.

“Don’t you think Eunji would appreciate it more to have you here with her?” Minho says in a calming voice. Jonghyun pauses for a second. He walks over to Eunji. Taemin and Jinki move aside as he crouches down in front of her chair.

“I told you Saturday morning and I’m gonna tell you again: Leave him. You’re worth much more than what he makes out.” She focuses on his hands resting in her lap. Her eyes follow the patterns of his rings as she sits there, completely numb and unable to speak. Jonghyun lifts one of his hands up to Eunji’s face and pulls it up so she’s forced to look him in the eyes.

“I’m scared," she speaks up with a voice so small and fragile. The bell rings, warning them all that the classroom will be filled with people shortly. Jonghyun grabs Eunji's arm.

“I’ll get you out of here for now. We’ll figure out what to do later.” Jonghyun grabs her hand and their friends tell them to call if anything happens before then the two of them hurry out of the school gates. Jonghyun takes Eunji to a café in town. It is practically deserted, seeing as it is around midday on a Monday. He won’t leave her alone for one second. It almost feels as though he is more scared than she is, but she highly doubts that it’s true. They sit across from each other in a small booth, staring at each other. Things have gone weird.

“So you’re with that girl?” She asks with a mug full of tea and eyes glossy and lifeless.

“Not really. She was just something to get you off my mind.” He too directs his words to the cup in his hands. She places hers on the table, takes Jonghyun’s out of his hands and places it next to her own. She walks to his side of the booth and leans her head on his arm. He sighs at her with a small smile and comfortingly puts his arms around her tired body.

“I must say your signals are pretty mixed. I’m not sure what to believe anymore.” He mumbles into her hair.

“Not the time Jonghyun.”

“That was probably a bit selfish of me to say right now,” he huffs bitterly.

“Things have changed now because of what he did. I think I need to talk to him,” she sighs. They drink the rest of our tea like this before Jonghyun follows Eunji to Woomin’s office. He wants to come just in case anything happens. Eunji nervously taps her foot as they travel up in the big and fancy elevator. The doors open and Eunji immediately makes eye contact with Jiwon. She smiles the sympathetic smile that she always gives Eunji. She spots Jonghyun and furrows her eyebrows.

“What’s up? He didn’t tell you to come today, did he?” Jiwon asks, still looking puzzled. She senses that something is up.

“Today might be the last time you see me,” Eunji announces. “Thanks for always being here.”

“Well it’s my job,” she says, slightly joking but still confused. Then she smiles as she thinks about the meaning of Eunji’s words. “Is this your body guard?” She gestures to Jonghyun, who Eunji knows that she recognizes him since she has brought him up from time to time in conversation.

“He’s here just in case. I’ll go in now. Stay here.” Eunji squeezes Jonghyun’s arm and walks past him.

“One second.” Eunji turns around and Jonghyun grabs her shoulders. He kisses her for the first time sober. The kiss subtle and soft and reassuring. He lets go and gestures for Eunji to go in. She leaves the door cracked open.

_Just in case._

“Eunji,” Woomin says surprised when he sees her standing in the corner of the room. She nears his desk, feeling disgusted to be in the same room as him. She gets angry that he uses her name like nothing has happened. She speaks up.

“This is the last time I’m going to speak to you. You’ve treated me badly and made me feel horrible about myself. You never listened and you hurt me physically and mentally countless times. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. I really hope you stop being an asshole someday. At least think about how you treat your future girlfriends.” She is almost out of breath from the adrenalin pumping through my body. He stands up, making Eunji feel very on edge.

“Well, that’s out of the blue.”

“Out of the blue? Out of the blue!?” She loses it. “You tell me this is out of the blue when you raped me two days ago. You tell me this is out of the blue when all you ever do is cheat and cheat and cheat and when I once have a guy close to my ear you lose your shit like I killed your fucking cat and peed on your million dollar carpet that you love more than you love me. You think you have the right to tell me this is out of the blue and get mad when you fucking raped me. When you fucking used me. I feel bad for your cat. She’s lovely, unlike your fucked up ass. Fuck you and your stupid fancy flat and expensive ass suits.” Eunji turns around and storms towards the door. She opens it before turning around to look at him one last time. “And btw your waffles are horrible you put way too much butter in them. I fucking told you to stick to the recipe. You dipshit.” She slams the door shut and breathes out in relief. She looks up at Jonghyun and Jiwon who are leaning on the desk. Their smiles are unmistakable. They have clearly been listening. Eunji smiles back and jumps into Jonghyun’s arms.

“Hey, I like you. Why don’t we keep in touch?” Jiwon asks Eunji and Eunji smiles at her. Jiwon hands her card to Eunji with a smile. Jonghyun takes Eunji’s hand and they step inside the elevator.

“I love you too,” Eunji says with a smile that grows wider as she looks up at Jonghyun.

“That took you long enough,” he grumpily mumbles.

“Yah! We haven’t even known each other for two weeks. What do you mean it took me long enough?” Eunji asks annoyed. He looks down at her blankly.

“It felt like years to me,” he whispers before leaning his back against the wall of the elevator.

“Corny,” she comments, knowing it will annoy him. He gives her a mean stare. “I guess it’s normal for a songwriter like you to speak in clichés.” She adds a provocative grin to push him over the edge and it works.

“Yaaaah Eunji, stop teasing me. I’m serious.” He can’t help but laugh a little and Eunji winks at him before stepping closer to the opening doors.

“I’m glad you’re still willing to take me after what I’ve put you through. Thank you, Kim Jonghyun.” Her words are only just loud enough for Jonghyun to make out. He tightens his grip on her hand and they walk out of the doors of the devil’s palace without looking back once.


	7. Saturday

Eunji’s eyes flutter open to reveal the same view as when she closed them; the back of Jonghyun’s sofa. She immediately feels the heat radiating from Jonghyun’s body underneath her. She smiles to herself, never in her life feeling so secure in the hands of someone else. She peeks at Jonghyun’s face with sleepy eyes. He feels the movement and looks down at his chest where Eunji lies, smiling sweetly at him.

“How long did I sleep for?” She rubs her eyes.

“Only about 20 minutes.” Eunji sits up and stretches her whole body. “Hungry?” Jonghyun asks. She nods and with a smile. Jonghyun gets up and enters his kitchen. Eunji follows, not liking the loss of contact.

“That was a good nap. I think I’ve longed for that nap all week without even knowing,” she sighs in relief, only to be annoyed by Jonghyun’s next statement.

“What, just like you longed for me all of last week without knowing?” Eunji narrows her eyes at him. They end up holding a longer starring contest. The gap between them reducing slowly as they stare. Eunji pecks him on the lips before shying back a few steps. She wonders why she is suddenly nervous now. The wave of shyness startles her. Jonghyun chuckles and lifts her chin with one hand. He steps closer to her again.

“I- I suddenly got shy.” She explains. His amused expression tells Eunji that he already knew this. Both his hands grab her arms and he pulls her in as close as she can get before pressing his lips against hers. Jonghyun’s lips are soft and pulp; so much so that Eunji develops a sudden urge to bite the lower one and she does. An odd mix between a moan and a yelp escapes him.

“That shyness left as quickly as it came,” Jonghyun comments as soon as she releases him from her tempting lips.

“Your lips are annoyingly great.” Jonghyun whispers sweetly in Eunji’s ear. She smiles “When are the others coming? We need to make sure we have enough time so they don’t walk in on us before we…” She takes a deep breath. “Do more of that.” She points to the lip she just had a taste of.

“We have an hour. Plenty of time if you ask me.” Jonghyun kisses her forehead.

“I’m thinking fuck food. Let’s fuck.” Eunji walks past Jonghyun and out of the kitchen, leaving him caught off guard and a little turned on. He quickly follows her into the bedroom. Jonghyun asks Eunji if it’s okay. Eunji nods. Jonghyun asks again with worry, she nods again and she kisses him.

Sweaty and out of breath, Eunji is lying with her head on Jonghyun’s chest as his cute little fingers run through her hair with immense care and love. She moves her fingers up and down his muscular arm.

“You… Made it all go away. Thank you, Kim Jonghyun. I feel alive again. You do something strange to me. It’s like I can’t help but trust you and you better not take advantage of that. That would be an uncool move.” She sternly points her finger at him.

“Of course not,” he chuckles and pulls her finger back down. “I love you. I will keep you safe, happy and in love in the proper way. The healthy way.” They stay in his bed like this for a while and they talk until the doorbell rings and Jonghyun rushes into his boxers, buzzes them in and hurries back to the bedroom to put his clothes on. Eunji is on the floor pulling on Jonghyun’s trousers, aware that it’s too late to try and find her own. They shuffle out of the bedroom, zipping up the last zippers and buttoning the last buttons as their friends come inside. Kibum stops and he smiles at a red mark on Eunji's neck for the first time.

“Looks like you’ve gotten better,” he smiles and opens his arms for Eunji to run into. Minho wraps his long arms around the both of them with a kind smile. Taemin runs into Eunji’s arms and they hold each other importantly for a long time, despite the fact that it’s been less than 24 hours since they saw each other last. Jinki goes last, hugging her tightly in an almost fatherly way that Eunji much appreciates. He kisses her hair before letting her go. He moves over to the sofa where he plops down in Taemin’s lap, making them both giggle happily. Jonghyun kisses the back of Eunji’s neck before they go to join their friends.

“I’m glad I have you back to normal, Eunji,” Taemin smiles at her. “I missed your constant happy smile.” She sends him a big one as she and Jonghyun squeeze into one of his big fluffy chairs.

“I love you, Taemin.”

“You two are the cutest besties,” Jinki comments with a smile.

“How long have all of you been friends by the way?” Jonghyun asks out into the room. Eunji smiles over at Kibum who opens his mouth.

“Back when Taemin and Eunji started school, I used to make fun of Taemin but Eunji would defend him even before they got close to each other. They can’t have been more than six. One day Eunji pulled Jinki over because he was one of the older kids and made him tell me off.” Kibum pauses to laugh at the vague memory. “I sat on the staircase and sulked. Minho came over and annoyed me every day from then. Eunji and Taemin became friends. The two of them were in love with Jinki, always following him around. Minho knew Jinki because they were neighbours back then. I don’t know how it went so wrong from there,” Kibum jokes. Minho hits him playfully and they all chuckle. Jonghyun stares at the five of them with fascination. The fact that they’ve held on for so long makes him wonder if his presence is even appreciated. Eunji tugs cutely at his earlobe, making him turn around.

“Thanks for appearing out of the blue, making me the happiest I’ve ever been.” Jonghyun’s frown turns upside down (A/N: Wow stop me I hate this fanfic) and he kisses her cheek sweetly.

“Thanks,” he mutters into her cheek.

“When do we leave?” Jinki asks, getting practical. The question is directed towards Jonghyun. As the oldest two in the group, they fall into the serious roles when the time calls for it. Jonghyun takes a look at his watch.

“Not long now. My manager should text me soon. When he does we’ll go down and wait for him,” Jonghyun explains and Jinki nods, more comfortable now that the situation is settled so they won’t have to stress around.

Jonghyun receives the text message a couple of minutes later and everyone is rushed to the door by Jinki and Jonghyun. They grab their coats and jump in their shoes. They take the stairs because Jinki hopes to take the top off of their endless bars of energy. “I see what you did there,” Jonghyun mutters thankfully to Jinki and gives him a thumbs up as they watch the four youngest rush down the stairs.

Jonghyun’s manager arrives with the car and they all squeeze in. Eunji and Taemin are jumping in their seats, making Jonghyun and Jinki chuckle at them happily. Minho and Kibum sit at the back discussing if Minho is too proud of his abs or if it’s just confidence.  _Guess who thinks what._

They arrive at the back of the arena where the festival is being held. The six leave the car that is now parked in a closed off area. Jonghyun walks with his manager, the others following him as he turns professional in a way they haven’t seen him before. They go inside the huge building and are led to his dressing room.

“Your rehearsal is in ten minutes,” his manager informs him. Jonghyun turns his head to find Jinki shushing the four youngest. Kibum tries to join Jinki’s fatherly role but gets an extra shush for shushing at Minho.

“It’s okay, you can have a look around.” Minho and Kibum have a dig at the snack table and the door slams shut after Taemin and Eunji as they go to explore the backstage area. Jinki slouches into a comfortable looking chair with a heavy sigh.

“I feel like a parent to my own boyfriend and friends.” Jonghyun chuckles.

“I’ll help you out. Just relax. Have a cup of coffee.” Jinki’s eyes widen and Jonghyun points to the coffee machine. Jonghyun is left alone in front of the mirror. He smiles at himself and Minho and Kibum in the background devouring half the snack table. Something changed when he met his new friends. Fame doesn’t feel lonely anymore and smiling comes so easy.

“Wow,” he mumbles to himself. “Love is so nice.” (This later becomes the inspiration for a song that he writes for Eunji in a moment of softness and insomnia at 3 in the morning, with her sleeping soundly next to him.) At this moment Eunji and Taemin burst into the room with star struck eyes.

“We literally just met like ten famous people, wow.” Jonghyun chuckles and wafts Eunji over.

“I love you. I better be your favourite idol.” She sits down and smiles, feeling suddenly older in Jonghyun's presence.

“How could you not be. I can’t wait to see you perform.” She kisses his forehead. He takes in her scent as she hugs him standing. He buries his face in her tummy and she puts her hands in his hair.

Taemin approaches tired Jinki in the corner. His cautious and shy steps catch Jinki’s attention. He smiles up at his boyfriend, giving him the confidence to come closer.

“Are you okay, Jinki?” Jinki nods tiredly at Taemin. He pats himself on the thigh, signalling that Taemin can sit there. He does and something in Jinki’s eyes softens further as Taemin’s face comes close to his.

“I’m just a little tired from all the running around. I’m an old man unlike you,” he chuckles. Taemin joins in, his laugh loving and understanding as well as apologetic towards Jinki’s state.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t, Taemin. I love you, however that happened.” Taemin giggles, burying his face in Jinki’s shoulder. He mumbles sweet love declarations into Jinki’s shoulder and Jinki wraps his arms further around Taemin’s body, planting small kisses wherever his mouth can reach on Taemin.

Kibum and Minho’s eyes meet. They both feel stuffed as they crash onto the sofa in the room.

“We shouldn’t have eaten so much,” Minho says with his hand on his stomach.

“We do this every time there’s free food,” Kibum replies. He rests his head on his best friend’s shoulder and breathes heavily. Kibum lazily threatens to punch Minho’s stomach and Minho sweeps his legs up between his stomach and Kibum’s fist.

“I’ll kill you,” he spits at Kibum. “I’ll actually kill you.” Kibum chuckles, wrapping his arm in Minho’s, making Minho relax.

Jonghyun is called out to rehearsal and they all follow him. The staff let them sit on the stage if they promise to behave, making Jinki feel on edge again. Taemin calms him with a gaze filled with promise. They sit down right at the front of the stage in the corner where they don’t annoy anyone. They watch him as he gets the microphone attached to his face. The dancers come out on stage and Jonghyun greets the familiar faces. Someone shouts for everyone to get ready and people gather in their right places. Jonghyun’s five friends stare in awe as “She Is” rocks through the speakers. The friends do the fan chants because Jonghyun can’t help but crack a tiny smile when they do.

Jonghyun subtly finds Eunji’s gaze now and again and he winks at her, making her feel like he sings just for her, which he does because she makes him forget what loneliness felt like when she smiles at him in that carefree way.

The rehearsal ends and Jonghyun receives a kiss on the cheek. Taemin and Eunji mutter privately as B.A.P pass by them. Eunji watches Jonghyun get makeup done and she chats with his makeup stylist, who tells her funny stories about Jonghyun and the funny things he has done in the past. Taemin, Kibum and Jinki watch Minho chatting up the stylist as she double checks Jonghyun outfits before he puts them on.

Jonghyun gets into his outfit after having his makeup done. His friends ask him constant questions before he manages to break free with Eunji’s hand in his. They take a walk around the backstage area.

“I haven’t even known you for two weeks,” Jonghyun thinks out loud. Eunji looks wonderingly up at him, awaiting a deeper explanation. “I don’t know how you just… You make me better? I know it doesn’t really make sense but…” Jonghyun trails off and Eunji stops him and chuckles up at him, making him smile too.

“It makes perfect sense.” She kisses him very carefully, not wanting to ruin either his clothes or makeup. “You look great,” she compliments bashfully. He smiles at the compliment and kisses her forehead.

“Thank you, Eunji. You’re everything.”

“Everything?” She raises an eyebrow with doubt.

“Everything.” He winks at her and throws an arm around her shoulders. They go back into the dressing room where they find Minho wafting the stylist's number around. Taemin sits in Jinki’s lap in a chair from where they watch Kibum and Minho being idiots. They smile at Jonghyun and Eunji who rush over to join them.

“Don’t you get nervous before a performance?” Jinki asks.

“I do but not until I can hear the crowd. That makes me anxious.”

A while goes by of talking and laughing before his stylists check up on him and he is taken to go into standby. His friends are showed to their seats in the crowd. They cheer loudly when Jonghyun comes on. He’s got his flirty smile on as he sings and dances and Taemin nudges Eunji’s shoulder every time the girls in the crowd swoon as if to say: “He chose you out of all these options.” Eunji smiles wide at Taemin whose back is leaning up against Jinki’s torso. Minho and Kibum are in their own little rainbow best friend world, dancing and jumping.

At the end of the show the six walk home barely unseen by the fans. First to separate from the group are Jinki and Taemin. Taemin, still full of energy jumps around a joyful Jinki.

“Jinki, we should stay together forever,” Taemin smiles yet not stopping his skipping around Jinki.

“I think we will.” Jinki grabs Taemin’s wrist and all motion stops. “I really think we will,” he says with his eyes glued to Taemin’s. Taemin wraps his arms around Jinki’s neck, causing Jinki to almost lose balance. There’s a short silence where Taemin is wrapped around Jinki.

“Do you have hot chocolate at home?” Jinki laughs merrily.

“I do. Since you started kissing on me I’ve made sure to always be stocked up on it.”

“Kissing on you,” Taemin giggles and grabs Jinki’s hand hurrying home to Jinki’s hot chocolate, duvet and love.

Minho lets Kibum sleep at his house because Kibum would have to walk for a while alone, it’s dark and cold and the two never miss a chance to spend best friend bonding time together. They end up in Minho’s living room in pyjamas (Kibum has a pair at Minho’s place and vice versa) where they play Xbox and eat cookies. Minho rolls on the floor when he loses and Kibum’s mouth goes stiff when the opposite happens.

“Kim Kibum, my BFF,” Minho chuckles as they end a game.

“We’re for life,” Kibum smiles, hugging Minho’s leg cutely.

Jonghyun’s arm is comfortably hooked in Eunji’s. They walk in silence when Eunji looks up at Jonghyun like she’s about to speak. She looks back at the pavement in front of her.

“What?” Jonghyun asks.

“I don’t want to seem like I’m trying to flatter myself,” she starts. “But did you sing for me?” Jonghyun smiles brightly.

“I didn’t know when I wrote those songs but they’re all for you.” Eunji laughs with such joy that Jonghyun’s heart melts quicker than he can process and he squeezes her arm softly.

“It was so overwhelming but it was in such a nice way,” she explains, looking up into his huge puppy eyes that make her heart melt quicker than she can process and she smiles at him softly.

“You know I’m gonna end up writing a million songs about you so suit up.”

“The suit has never fit me better.”

Their smiles say it all.


End file.
